Paparazzi agency wants Ledger drug lawsuit dismissed

Published: Friday, June 20, 2008, 16:13 [IST]

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Washington, June 20 : A paparazzi agency, accused of deliberately giving cocaine to late actor Health Ledger, and then secretly taping him at a SAG party in 2006, wants the lawsuit filed against them to be dismissed.

The attorneys for Splash News are asking to dismiss the filed by a woman identified only as Jane Doe, as there is not enough evidence to support some of her allegations, while other claims weren't filed before the statute of limitations expired, reports E! Online

The plaintiff claims that she was also caught on the tape, which was shot in her hotel room without her consent, and is seeking damages for fraud, intrusion, infliction of emotional distress and privacy violations.

However, Splash lawyers claim that her face was "blurred out" in the footage and therefore her privacy has not been violated.

They said that other parts of her claim are false because she "has improperly attempted to assert the rights of a dead celebrity within her complaint."

The agency lawyers have also filed papers requesting removal of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John P. Shook, on the grounds he is prejudiced against the agency.

The lawsuit states that, one of the photogs "gave Ledger a package of cocaine. Mr. Ledger also had some of his own. The cocaine was put on the table [in a hotel room reserved by the plaintiff], and the men began snorting cocaine."

Ledger did not know that the second Splash photographer was "outside our hotel room, on the balcony, hidden, shooting video footage of everyone in the room," the suit continues.

When he did discover he was being taped, Ledger got angry and he was promised the tape would be destroyed, the suit says.